Galley cart bay door latch

ABSTRACT

A galley cart bay door latch system serves to secure catering or galley carts, as are used on commercial aircraft, within the aircraft&#39;s galley. The system relies on two substantially horizontally disposed latch levers to secure the galley door which in turn restrains a galley cart in position within the galley. The ends of the latch levers are received in a recess formed in the door to secure the door. Raising the latch lever releases the door and positively pushes the door outwardly. The latching configuration allows the doors to be slammed shut without the need to further manipulate the latch levers.

CROSS-REFERENCES TO RELATED APPLICATIONS

This application is based upon and claims priority from U.S. ProvisionalApplication No. 61/731,275, filed Nov. 29, 2012, incorporated byreference in its entirety.

BACKGROUND

The invention generally relates to aircraft galleys, and moreparticularly pertains to a system for releasably latching a door of agalley cart bay for releasably retaining an aircraft galley cart withinthe galley cart bay for storing and serving food on aircraft.

On commercial aircraft with in-flight catering services, carts are usedto transport meals from the galley to the passengers in the cabin. Suchcarts are typically retained in the galley with turn buttons thatinclude arms that rotate about an axis that is perpendicular to thefront face of galley. Rotation of the arms downwardly serves to retainthe carts in their stowed position within the galley.

With the current trend towards the “air over” method of cart chillingwhich requires the cart bays to have doors, the turn buttons have to beplaced on the outside of the doors, which results in an undesirableincrease in the depth of a galley, a poor aesthetic appearance andergonomic disadvantages although the doors may be used for retention.While location of the arms inside the doors results in a betteraesthetic appearance and ergonomics, it does increase the work deckheight and potential cold bridge issues through the doors themselves. Insuch configuration the doors are not normally used for retention (withthe possible exception of cart kick-up loads) although additional doorlatching is required to secure the doors themselves. To release thecarts both turn buttons need to be stowed which requires the use of bothhands or a repeated single action. With this configuration there is nosimultaneous slam facility in the event of a need for rapid stowageduring an emergency.

To secure the carts or compartment doors, the turn buttons are attachedto a substantial work deck beam in order to withstand the twisting forceimposed on their rear face by forward momentum of fully loaded cartsunder simulated emergency conditions. The beam is usually manufacturedfrom aluminum, heavy and can form another cold bridge within the chilledcart compartment.

A galley cart latching system is needed that is capable of effectivelyand efficiently securing galley carts and their contents in anaircraft's galley while overcoming the disadvantages of previously knownsystems. The present invention meets these and other needs.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Briefly, and in general terms, the present invention provides a latchingsystem for securing galley carts in an aircraft's galley. The latchingsystem allows one handed operation of both primary and secondary cartdoor retainers simultaneously, eliminates requirement for additionalcart bay door latches or door handles, assists in opening the cart baydoor and slam locks to automatically return to an engaged position toprovide for failsafe capability, is substantially concealed to improvegalley aesthetics, may be manufactured from carbon fiber reinforcedcomposite materials to eliminate cold bridge problems in chilledgalleys, does not significantly add to the depth requirement in areduced foot print galley and the galley work deck beam can besubstantially reduced in size or replaced with individual attachmentpoints to reduce weight and cold bridge issues.

The present invention accordingly provides for a latching systemincluding a latch for latching and unlatching a door of a galley cartbay of an aircraft galley for receiving an aircraft galley cart withinthe galley cart bay and releasably retaining the aircraft galley cartwithin the galley cart bay. The latch includes one or more latch levers,an inner end of the one or more latch levers being pivotally mounted tothe aircraft galley, and an outer end of the one or more latch leversincluding a lever retainer member releasably engageable with a portionof the galley cart bay door. The outer end of the one or more latchlevers are pivotally movable between a door engaging position engagingthe galley cart bay door and retaining the galley cart bay door in aclosed position of the door, and a door releasing position releasing thegalley cart bay door to move to the open position of the door forreleasing the aircraft galley cart for removal from the galley cart bay.

In a presently preferred aspect, the inner end of the one or more latchlevers includes a mounting boss including upper and lower detent stops,the inner end of the one or more latch levers is pivotally mounted in asupport bracket connected to the aircraft galley, and the supportbracket includes a detent biased outwardly to alternatingly removablyengage one of the upper and lower detent stops of the mounting boss. Inanother presently preferred aspect, the detent is a spring loadeddetent. In another presently preferred aspect, the detent includes aspring loaded ball bearing located in a hole in the support bracket. Inanother presently preferred aspect, the upper and lower detent stops areformed by hemispherical recesses in the mounting boss.

In another presently preferred aspect, the inner end of the one or morelatch levers include a cam slot releasably engageable with a camoperated rod slidably mounted between the cam slot and an interior sideof the cart bay door. In another presently preferred aspect, acompression spring is disposed intermediate the cam slot and the camoperated rod, and the compression spring is biased to cause the camoperated rod to push outwardly against the cart bay door when the cartbay door is in the closed position and when the one or more latch leversis moved to the open position. In another presently preferred aspect,the lever retainer member comprises a lever T bar retainer member.

In another presently preferred aspect, the lever receiving portion ofthe galley cart bay door includes one or more positive location nubsextending outwardly from the galley cart bay door and the lever retainermember is releasably engageable with the one or more positive locationnubs in the door engaging position of the outer end of the one or morelatch levers. In another presently preferred aspect, a door seal isdisposed between an interior side of the galley cart bay door and thegalley cart bay for sealing the galley cart bay door against the galleycart bay in the closed position of the galley cart bay door, and the oneor more positive location nubs are configured to cause the one or morelatch levers to compress the door seal against the galley cart bay inthe closed position of the latch lever when the galley cart bay door isclosed and the outer end of the one or more latch levers is in the doorengaging position, such that positive closure of the galley cart baydoor is achieved by depressing the one or more latch levers past the oneor more positive location nubs. In another presently preferred aspect,wherein the one or more positive location nubs include first and secondpositive location nubs, and positive closure is achieved by depressingthe one or more latch levers past the first and second positive locationnubs. In another presently preferred aspect, when the galley cart baydoor is moved to the closed position, the cam rod is pushed against thecompression spring and the cam slot, and is operative to move the one ormore latch levers to the door engaging position.

In another presently preferred aspect, the one or more latch leversinclude first and second latch levers independently releasablyengageable with the portion of the galley cart bay door. In anotherpresently preferred aspect, the first and second latch levers aremounted in a support bracket, the inner ends of the first and secondlatch levers each include a mounting boss including upper and lowerdetent stops, the inner ends of the first and second latch levers eachare pivotally mounted in a support bracket connected to the aircraftgalley, and the support bracket include one or more detents biasedoutwardly to alternatingly removably engage one of the upper and lowerdetent stops of the mounting bosses of the first and second latch leversto provide independent primary and secondary latching of the cart baydoor.

The first and second latch levers are typically substantiallyhorizontally disposed latch levers that extend from the galley supportframe. Each latch lever typically has a T-bar end that is received in arecess formed in the upper portion of the galley door to secure thedoor. The galley door serves to restrain a cart in position within thegalley. To release the door, both latch levers can be liftedsimultaneously to an upper detent position allowing the latch levers topass through a slot in the door. On closure, the latch levers re-engagein their respective recesses automatically. No additional door latch orhandle is required and the whole mechanism can be mounted and operateswithin a 1 inch space limitation. The latch levers may be manufacturedfrom metallic or non-metallic materials, particularly high strengthalloys or carbon fiber reinforced composite due to the linear nature ofthe applied load path.

These and other features and advantages of the present invention willbecome apparent from the following detailed description of preferredembodiments which, taken in conjunction with the accompanying drawings,illustrate by way of example the principles of the invention.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a schematic side view of a preferred embodiment of the galleycart door retaining system of the present invention.

FIG. 2 is a schematic front view of the galley cart door retainingsystem shown in FIG. 1.

FIG. 3 is a side view of the latch lever of the latching system shownFIGS. 1 and 2 in its raised position and detached from its mounting.

FIG. 4A is a side view of the latch lever of the latching system shownFIGS. 1 and 2 in its raised position and attached to its mounting.

FIG. 4B is a side view of a through bolt for securing the supportbracket of FIG. 4A.

FIG. 4C is an end view of the through bolt of FIG. 4B.

FIG. 5 is a side view of the latch lever of the latching system shown inFIGS. 1 and 2 in its lowered position.

FIG. 6 is a top view of the latch lever of the latching system shown inFIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 7 is a bottom view of the latch lever of the latching system shownin FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 8 is a front elevation of the latch lever of the latching systemshown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 9 is a rear elevation of the latch lever of the latching systemshown in FIGS. 1 and 2.

FIG. 10 depicts the pivot pin for securing the latch lever of thelatching system shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 to its mounting.

FIGS. 11-18 depict variations of support bracket configurations inaccordance with the present invention.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS

The present invention provides for a galley cart door bay door retainingor latching system including a latch 10 for use on galley carts as areused in commercial aircraft. The latch includes one or more latch levers12 pivotally mounted on a galley 14. FIGS. 1 and 2 show a side view anda front view, respectively, of the galley cart door bay door retainingor latching system and more particularly show first and second latchlevers 12 a, 12 b mounted on the galley, wherein the first latch lever12 a is shown disengaged and the second latch lever 12 b is shownengaged in the cart bay door 16. The door is provided with positivelocation nubs 18 that give a positive engagement for a lever retainermember 19, such as a lever T bar retainer, for example, at an outer end20 of the latch lever, while the door seal 22 is compressed by action ofclosing the door. The galley cart door bay door retaining or latchingsystem provides independent primary and secondary latching of the cartbay door.

In addition, the latch levers utilize a cam operated rod 24 thatperforms two functions—upon raising the latch levers to an upper detentposition, the compression spring 26 is compressed and the rod is pushedagainst the door by the cam slot 28 to propel the cart bay dooroutwardly allowing a space or slot 30 above the door to be used as ahandle or grip for opening the door further. On closure, the rodoperates in reverse, the closure of the door pushing it backwardsagainst the spring and cam slot base and re-engaging the latch leversautomatically. Positive closure is achieved by further depressing thelatch levers past the location nubs. Both latch levers are mounted in acommon support bracket, frame or plate 32.

FIGS. 3-10 show the latch levers and associated elements in more detail.In FIG. 3, a latch lever is shown detached from its mounting and in theraised detent position. Two detent positions, stops or slots and the camslot are visible. At the inner end or root 36 of the latch lever is themounting boss 38 with a through hole 40 for pivot pin 42. The mountingboss preferably includes one or more detent positions, stops or slots44, such as one or more hemispherical recesses, for example, andpreferably includes an upper detent position, stop or slot 44 a, and alower detent position, stop or slot 44 b. In FIG. 4A, the latch lever isshown mounted in its support bracket, frame or plate, and the upperdetent position, stop or slot is positively engaged by a spring loadedball bearing 46 biased outwardly toward the upper detent position, stopor slot by a spring 47 located in a hole 48 in the support bracket backplate engaging with the upper detent position, stop or slot.

The support bracket is typically secured by one or more through bolts52, engaging in threaded holes or inserts in structurally bonded blocksintegrated into the molded work deck panel, or into a work deck beamintegrated with or mounted to the galley, for example. FIG. 5 shows analternative through bolt pattern as is further shown in FIGS. 13 and 14.While a T bar configuration on the end of the latch lever is shown,L-shaped, C-shaped, P-shaped, or other configurations can alternativelybe employed.

FIGS. 11-18 depict alternative embodiments of support bracketconfigurations. FIG. 11 has a two bolt fixing with the pivot pinsupported at both ends only. FIG. 12 has a two bolt fixing with thepivot pin supported at both ends as well as in the center. FIG. 13 has athree bolt fixing with the pivot pin supported at both ends only and hasre-spaced outboard fixing bolts. FIG. 14 has a four bolt fixing with thepivot pin supported at both ends and in the center in addition to havingre-spaced outboard fixing bolts. FIG. 15 has a three bolt fixing withthe pivot pin supported at both ends only. FIG. 16 has a four boltfixing with the pivot pin supported at both ends and in the center. FIG.17 has a four bolt fixing with two bolts at each end and the pivot pinis supported at both ends only. FIG. 18 has a four bolt fixing with twobolts at each end and the pivot pin supported at both ends and in thecenter. Additional inboard fixings could be added to the bracketconfigurations shown in FIGS. 17 and 18. Only the brackets illustratedin FIGS. 11, 12, 17 and 18 can be unbolted from a galley as a singleunit while the brackets shown in FIGS. 13, 14, 15 and 16 would requirethe removal of the pivot pin to access the inboard fixings.

While particular forms of the invention have been illustrated anddescribed, it will be apparent to those skilled in the art that variousmodification can be made without departing from the spirit and scope ofthe invention. Accordingly, it is not intended that the invention belimited except by the appended claims.

What is claimed is:
 1. A latching system for latching and unlatching adoor of a galley cart bay of an aircraft galley, said galley cart baydoor mounted to said galley cart bay of said aircraft galley forreleasably retaining said aircraft galley cart within the galley cartbay, said galley cart bay door being movable between a closed positionclosing the galley cart bay for retaining the aircraft galley cartwithin the galley cart bay and an open position for releasing theaircraft galley cart for removal from the galley cart bay; said latchingsystem comprising: at least one latch lever having an inner and an outerend, said inner end being pivotally mounted to the aircraft galley, saidouter end of said at least one latch lever including a lever retainermember releasably engageable with a portion of the galley cart bay door,said outer end of said at least one latch lever being pivotally movablebetween a door engaging position engaging said galley cart bay door andretaining said galley cart bay door in the closed position and a doorreleasing position releasing said galley cart bay door to move to theopen position, and said inner end of said at least one latch leverincluding a cam slot releasably engageable with a cam operated rodslidably mounted between said cam slot and an interior side of saidgalley cart bay door.
 2. The latching system of claim 1, wherein saidinner end of said at least one latch lever includes a mounting bossincluding upper and lower detent stops, and said inner end of said atleast one latch lever is pivotally mounted in a support bracketconnected to the aircraft galley, said support bracket including adetent biased outwardly to alternatingly removably engage one of saidupper and lower detent stops of said mounting boss.
 3. The latchingsystem of claim 2, wherein said detent comprises a spring loaded detent.4. The latching system of claim 2, wherein said detent comprises aspring loaded ball bearing located in a hole in the support bracket. 5.The latching system of claim 2, wherein said upper and lower detentstops comprise hemispherical recesses in said mounting boss.
 6. Thelatching system of claim 1, further comprising a compression springdisposed intermediate said cam slot and said cam operated rod, saidcompression spring being biased to cause said cam operated rod to pushoutwardly against said cart bay door when said cart bay door is in theclosed position and when said at least one latch lever is moved to saidopen position.
 7. The latching system of claim 1, wherein said leverretainer member comprises a lever T bar retainer member.
 8. The latchingsystem of claim 1, wherein said galley cart bay door includes at leastone positive location nub extending outwardly from said galley cart baydoor and said lever retainer member is releasably engageable with saidat least one positive location nub in said door engaging position ofsaid outer end of said at least one latch lever.
 9. The latching systemof claim 8, further comprising a door seal disposed between an interiorside of the galley cart bay door and the galley cart bay for sealing thegalley cart bay door against the galley cart bay in the closed positionof the galley cart bay door, and wherein said at least one positivelocation nub is configured to cause said at least one latch lever tocompress said door seal against the galley cart bay in the closedposition of the latch lever when said galley cart bay door is closed andsaid outer end of said at least one latch lever is in said door engagingposition, such that positive closure of said galley cart bay door isachieved by depressing said at least one latch lever past said at leastone positive location nub.
 10. The latching system of claim 9, whereinsaid at least one positive location nub comprises first and secondpositive location nubs, and positive closure is achieved by depressingsaid at least one latch lever past said first and second positivelocation nubs.
 11. The latching system of claim 1, wherein when saidgalley cart bay door is moved to said closed position, said cam rod ispushed against said compression spring and said cam slot, and isoperative to move said at least one latch lever to said door engagingposition.
 12. The latching system of claim 1, wherein said at least onelatch lever comprises first and second latch levers independentlyreleasably engageable with said portion of said galley cart bay door.13. The latching system of claim 12, wherein said first and second latchlevers are mounted in a support bracket, said inner ends of said firstand second latch levers each including a mounting boss including upperand lower detent stops, and said inner ends of said first and secondlatch levers each being pivotally mounted in a support bracket connectedto said aircraft galley, said support bracket including detents biasedoutwardly to alternatingly removably engage one of said upper and lowerdetent stops of said mounting bosses of said first and second latchlevers to provide independent primary and secondary latching of the cartbay door.
 14. A latching system for latching and unlatching a galleycart bay door of a galley cart bay of an aircraft galley for receivingan aircraft galley cart within the galley cart bay, the galley cart baydoor being movable between a closed position closing said galley cartbay for retaining said aircraft galley cart within the galley cart bayand an open position for releasing said aircraft galley cart for removalfrom the galley cart bay, the latching system comprising: first andsecond latch levers each having an inner and an outer end, said innerends of said first and second latch levers each being pivotally mountedto the aircraft galley, said outer ends of said first and second latchlevers each including a lever retainer member releasably engageable withcorresponding first and second lever receiving portions of the galleycart bay door, respectively, said outer ends of said first and secondlatch levers each being independently movable between a door releasingposition releasing said galley cart bay door to move to the openposition and a door engaging position releasably engaging saidcorresponding first and second lever receiving portions of said galleycart bay door and retaining said galley cart bay door in the closedposition, said inner ends of said first and second latch leversincluding corresponding cam slots, respectively, said corresponding camslots being releasably engageable with corresponding cam operated rodsslidably mounted between said corresponding cam slots and an interiorside of said cart bay door, said inner ends of said first and secondlatch levers each including corresponding compression springs disposedintermediate said corresponding cam slots and said corresponding camoperated rods, said compression springs being biased to cause saidcorresponding cam operated rods to push outwardly against said cart baydoor when said cart bay door is in the closed position and when eitheror both of said first and second latch levers are moved to said openposition; and said first and second lever receiving portions of saidgalley cart bay door each including corresponding positive location nubsextending outwardly from said galley cart bay door, said lever retainermembers being releasably engageable with said corresponding positivelocation nubs of said corresponding first and second lever receivingportions of said galley cart bay door in said door engaging position ofsaid outer ends of said first and second latch levers.
 15. The latchingsystem of claim 14, further comprising a door seal disposed between aninterior side of the galley cart bay door and the galley cart bay forsealing the galley cart bay door against the galley cart bay in theclosed position of the galley cart bay door, and wherein saidcorresponding positive location nubs are configured to cause said firstand second latch levers to compress said door seal against the galleycart bay in the closed position of the latch lever when said galley cartbay door is closed and said outer end of said first and second latchlevers is in said door engaging position, such that positive closure ofsaid galley cart bay door is achieved by depressing said first andsecond latch levers past said corresponding positive location nubs. 16.The latching system of claim 14, wherein when said galley cart bay dooris moved to said closed position, said corresponding cam rods areconfigured to be pushed against said corresponding compression springsand said corresponding cam slots, and are operative to move said firstand second latch levers to said door engaging position.
 17. The latch ofclaim 14, wherein said first and second latch levers are mounted in asupport bracket, said inner ends of said first and second latch leverseach including a mounting boss including upper and lower detent stops,and said inner ends of said first and second latch levers each beingpivotally mounted in a support bracket connected to said aircraftgalley, said support bracket including first and second detents biasedoutwardly to alternatingly removably engage corresponding ones of saidupper and lower detent stops of said mounting bosses of said first andsecond latch levers to provide independent primary and secondarylatching of the cart bay door.
 18. The latching system of claim 17,wherein said first and second detents comprise spring loaded detents.